The imagery of high school pep rallies is appropriate in the first week of school. Very few schools are chanting “We’re number 12.” But that is Canada’s place in the latest ranking from the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index.
There are a number of areas that bring Canada down, such as the Macroeconomic Environment scores, which examines factors such as Government budget balance (as a percentage of GDP), national savings, inflation, general government debt and the country’s credit rating. Given the state of so many other countries, it is unclear why Canada’s relative ranking is so poor on government debt factors. I found the most interesting data points were the responses to naming the most problematic factors for doing business. Seventeen percent of responses cited “Inefficient government bureaucracy”.
I was exposed to this yesterday as I discovered that Canada’s passport office felt it needed to give two year’s notice to make changes enabling a 10 year passport. Keep in mind that most places require a passport to have 6 months remaining on a passport when entering a country, so a 5 year passport really needs renewal after 54 months. So, every four and a half years, you have the pleasure of being grounded while Canada Post and Passport Canada delay your application by mail. Alternatively, you can throw away your personal productivity by visiting a passport office in person. Does it not seem bizarre that the improvement to this bureaucratic mess requires a consultation and two years advance notice, with no firm readiness date other than “some time in 2012”? It is a little annoyance, symptomatic of government red-tape that doesn’t consider the detrimental impact on international business and lost productivity.
With Parliament returning to session at the end of this month, let’s hope that a majority government can motivate its all of its departments to operate with a greater sense of urgency. Canada’s national digital economic strategy consultation was launched in May of 2010. The Industry Minister, together with colleagues from Heritage and Human Resources, should soon provide leadership to drive Canada towards regaining a top-10 ranking in Global Competitiveness.